Destiny's Crossroads
by SpiritCaravans
Summary: Kirito and Asuna weren't the only star-crossed lovers in SAO. Siren is loner scouring the virtual universe for some form of contact with his comatose girlfriend. Will he find what he so desperately desires, or does destiny have something else planned for him? The answer may lie with a precocious, but lonely, blacksmith, searching for a connection of her own. [Lisbeth x OC].
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **Author's Note: Well, I'm SpiritCaravans (bonus points to who can name the reference** **). This is my first fanfic ever. I was a bit of a fan of the Sword Art online anime, but felt that the first series was kinda rushed (what with both the Aincrad and Alfheim Online story arcs crammed into only 25 episodes), so here is my attempt to add a little meat to what I felt was essentially bones, but had major promise. In case the description wasn't clear, this is a Lisbeth x OC story, and rated M for a reason. If you don't like, don't read. So, here are the first three chapters. Reviews, feedback, and constructive criticism are much appreciated. I will update every Friday evening or Saturday morning, depending on feedback and my schedule. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

 **November 6, 2022 12:00pm**

He slowly entered the elevator in the hospital's main lobby, shifting the package in his arms as he pressed the button for the fifth floor, hospice. As the elevator slowly ascended, he went over everything he had to do. Set up the laptop. Download the game to the hard drive. Download the Nerve Gear settings. Put it on her. Activate the gamer console interface. Then link. That would be the most important part. If the link didn't take, she wouldn't be sent. He would waste hours, or even days, looking for her. He didn't want that. He wanted…what did he want? To talk to her? Laugh? A last hug? A last kiss?... _closure_? He supposed he wanted them all, but none so much as the last. He needed to know that, even on that day, she still loved him. He wouldn't be able to move on without that.

The elevator dinged, bringing him out of his thoughts. He stepped off and made his way down the hall as he had done so many times in the last year. The nurses registered his presence as they had for months now, with sorrowful looks accompanied by friendly hellos. Nobody even bothered to question the packages he carried. He was a known face here, in what he considered the valley of death. The hospice wing. The place for those waiting to die. It sickened him that she was here. She wasn't dead. Not yet. Not for him. Her brain told him otherwise. The slightest bit of activity was enough for him to try this crazy plan of his. Besides, what was the harm? If the equipment didn't sync, would her brain get any worse by having what was the equivalent to a plastic helmet on her head? With steel plates replacing the majority of her cranium for over twelve months now, he thought not.

When he reached room five hundred and one, her room, he hesitated. Pain, sorrow, and regret, his old friends over these last agonizing months, sunk there claws deep into his chest. It was always like this when he visited. Opening her door was the hardest part. Despite the reassurances from her parents, he always felt as if it wasn't his right to be here. It wasn't right for him to try to assuage his guilt by visiting three to five times a week. It wasn't right for him to be forgiven. Still, he felt that if he could just _contact_ her somehow, things would _be_ alright. He could tell her he loved her, that he would always love her. He could tell her he was sorry.

Taking a deep breath, he took hold of the handle. Opening the door, he stepped into the dark room, the only light coming from the machinery lining the far wall. In the middle of the room was a bed, its sole occupant hooked up to countless tubes and wires, yet having the sleeping face of an angel. He didn't want to walk in farther, feeling as always that he brought with him a sense of violation. He suppressed the feeling for now, intent on what he had to do. He slowly walked over to her bed, and saw with disgust that the flowers on the dresser at the foot of the mattress were dead. Probably days dead by now. What made him angry was that they were flowers that her parents had brought her the last time they had visited. Two _weeks_ ago. It made him sick. Even before this, they had hardly paid attention to her. Their jobs and social life took precedent over their daughter. The fact that they hadn't bothered to visit in, what seemed to him, such a long time cemented his rather low opinion of them.

He forced himself to stop his line of thinking before his temper flared beyond his control. He seemed to be having more and more trouble with that lately. He breathed deeply, letting her scent calm him. She was always able to do that, even with just her presence. It kept him out of a lot of trouble in the last few years. And kept him on the straight and narrow, as well. For the most part.

He walked up to the head of the bed, staring at her beautiful face that seemed to be in a deep slumber. Gingerly, he reached across the bed and ran the back of his fingers across her cheek. He nearly flinched from the lack of response he received. Not even a twitch to let him know she was still alive. That she was still in there. Somewhere. It was all he could do to choke back a sob. He knew there was no way he would ever forgive himself. He pulled back his hand with a deep breath. He needed to be strong. For her, if not for himself.

He walked back around the foot of the bed to the desk that held a vast amount of machinery. Setting his burdens on the floor, he carefully cleared a space large enough to set up the laptop. When he had done that, he set up the game adapter, making sure all the connections were functioning properly. He then connected the Nerve Gear helmet to the adapter when all systems read in the green. With a last nervous breath, he opened the disk tray and inserted the game, and began the process of downloading the program.

After five tense minutes, he heard a feminine voice announce " _Welcome to Sword Art Online_ ".

Retrieving the disk and putting it away, he tapped a few keys and quickly used the manual interface to create what he thought would be an appropriate avatar for her. He then keyed in her user name: KIKO. He smiled. Her pet name was something they used only between themselves. Not even their friends at school called her by it. He then lifted the helmet and carried it gingerly to the head of the bed, almost as if it was an offering to the gods. Carefully, lovingly, he lifted her head slightly with his left hand, just enough to get the helmet past the back of her head with his right. When it was on, he made sure all of the cables were properly connected. He then walked back to the computer and activated the helmets external mic, setting the receiver for max range.

"Link…start," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

" _Link Successful_ ," he heard the voice say

He sighed with relief. Almost done.

He walked back over to the bed. He thought she would look worse with more machinery attached to her. It surprised him how much the helmet seemed to… _blend in_. It only served to make him feel worse. Taking one last look at her, forcing himself to try to remember all of her features, he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"I'll see you soon," he whispered gently into her ear.

He turned and walked out of the room without a backward glance, not seeing the error message pop up on the computer screen, and all the lights on the NERVE GEARS status plate turn red.

* * *

 **November 6, 2022 3:00pm**

" _Welcome to Sword Art Online_ ," the feminine voice said as he uploaded the game to his own impressive hardware setup he had in his bedroom. What his parents lacked in parental interest in him, they more then made for in material possessions, so long as it kept him occupied and away from them. He didn't know anyone else that had anything close to the systems he was currently running.

He pushed himself back from his desk, more determined than ever to see this through. He picked up his Nerve Gear helmet that lay on his nightstand as he made his way to the bed, feeling anxiety rise in his stomach as he walked the twenty feet across the room. He took off his shirt, pants and socks, stripping all of his articles of clothing until he was left only in his boxers. He planned to spend a good twelve hours in the game and wanted his body to be comfortable. Laying down, he folded his clothes and set them by his bedside before he finally placed the helmet on his head. He rested against the pillows, ready to begin.

"Link…start," he said.

He immediately felt the unpleasant sensation of every one of his nerves feeling as if he had passed through a field of static electricity as the helmet blocked his central nervous system from sending impulses to his brain, and vice versa. Even though his eyes were closed, he saw bright lights as the game server kicked in. He then found himself in a white room, and the same feminine voice said:

" _Welcome. Please wait a moment as the Nerve Gear software scans your dimensions. Please touch your body in the indicated areas to assist with this process_."

He did as instructed, taking his hands and tapping the various parts of his body as instructed, then waited impatiently for the scan to complete.

" _Thank you for waiting. Please create your Avatar_."

He decided to go with a generic version of himself based on what the game had scanned of his physical body. He had no qualms regarding what he looked like, and simply didn't see the point in hiding behind the mask of a custom Avatar. All he wanted was to get in the game as soon as possible. He clicked affirmative on the holographic display presented to him.

" _Thank you. Please enter your user name_."

He quickly typed in SIREN in the panel and clicked affirmative, expecting to quickly find his Kiko and spend several blissful hours with her.

" _Welcome, Siren, to the World of Sword Art Online_."

And as he faded from this world to the virtual, he couldn't have imagined that his life would never be the same.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **2 Years Later, July 2024**

Lisbeth sighed as she leaned against the glass counter of her shop. She hadn't had a customer all week, and Agil wasn't due to drop off her ore shipment for five days. She wouldn't even be able to work on her commissions. She sighed again. She wished Kirito and Asuna would at least drop in for a visit. Looking outside, she noted with dismay that it was still raining. It wasn't likely that any of her friends would show up. She leaned her head on her arm, her left eye being able to see through the glass at all of the weapons and armor she had for sale. Her life's work; at least her life in here. With a weary nod to herself, she decided to close shop for the day. Maybe she'd just message Asuna.

She had just turned around to head to the back to put out the forge's fire when she heard the door open and the bell ring, signaling her that someone had come in. She spun around quickly, giving her biggest smile to her prospective customer.

"Hey there!" she said in an overly-friendly voice that sounded creepy, even to her, "Welcome to Lisbeth's Smith Shop! Please have a look around and see what I…"

She couldn't finish her little spiel when she laid eyes on the stranger. He was dressed all in black, just like Kirito, with a black cloak covering his equally dark leather-looking armor. His hood was pulled back, and she could see his dark, wavy hair was soaking wet, and he had an exhausted look about him, as if he'd come a long way. She then noticed his sword, strapped firmly to his side. She frowned when she noticed it was a rapier.

She saw him take a moment to look around. He hadn't seemed to notice that she'd completely lost her tongue in his presence. When he turned his head to look at the far end of shop, she got a slightly better view of him. She noticed, a little embarrassed from where her mind was wandering, that he had beautifully full lips. For a guy, at least. She looked down as he walked forward, trying to keep her inappropriate thoughts in check, as he examined the high-end weaponry she had along the wall. She noticed him stop in front of a particular sword, an enormously powerful weapon called Green Destiny.

The stranger stared at the weapon for a long while before finally picking it up, hefting and twirling the Moderately heavy blade in his hands. After a few moments of indecision, he brought it to Liz.

"Do you have anything better than this?" he asked, and she noticed his voice sounded as soft as a summer breeze.

She gasped when she realized what he had just said. Anything better than _that_?! It was a level seventy or higher only blade with massive bonuses to speed, accuracy, and critical damage, a fifty percent chance to paralyze for fifteen seconds, as well as the ability to drain an opponents' energy skill, significantly lessening their accuracy and agility. She couldn't help but wonder of he was, at least slightly, insane.

"Look, do you even realize what you _have_ there?" she asked incredulously, shocked at how nonchalant he was treating her best sword.

"Yeah," he said, hefting the weapon again, "It's pretty good, but I'm looking for something a little better, and lighter. Preferably a rapier-class weapon."

She crossed her arms petulantly, not pleased by having her best items brushed off by this stranger.

"Look, this is floor forty eight," she said, her childishness getting the best of her again, "You won't find anything better then that below floor sixty. If you're going to be picky, I suggest you try there…or the frontlines."

He didn't seem to notice her outburst, or if he did, he didn't seem to care. Instead, he hefted Green Destiny one last time, before slamming its blade in the floor. She squeaked in surprise at the sudden movement, not knowing what he was going to do next. He surprised her again by simply crossing his arms like her, and sighing.

"I just came from there," he said, a tiredness entering his otherwise dreamy voice, "I couldn't find what I was looking for."

He looked up, straight into her face, and now she got her first view of his eyes. They startled her more then she had been before. They were gorgeous. A sea water blue with a pure violet ring wrapped around the iris. Though he had a hard stare going on at the moment, she noticed that his eyes had a softness to them. Very unusual for non-civilian gamers after two years. Especially those who took on the frontlines, as he claimed he had. There was something else there too, buried deep, so deep she almost couldn't identify it at first. It hit her mere moments later. There was sorrow there. She shouldn't have been surprised. Every player had sorrow in them. They'd been trapped in this nightmare for almost two years, now. But there was something different about him. His sorrow seemed deeper, like it had taken root long ago and had spread throughout his being. Like he'd had it for a while, maybe even before the game. She decided she didn't want to know, but the least she could do was try to accommodate him the best she could.

"Look," she said, softer this time, trying not to be as immature as before, "What do you want specifically?"

For the briefest of moments, she could have sworn she saw the barest hint of a smile cross his face. She became a little uneasy when he drew his sword, but fought it down. He hadn't been aggressive so far. She would give him a chance. He looked at both weapons, hers still buried tip first into her floor, as if coming to a decision. With a lightning fast twirl, he had the handle of his rapier held out to her. Liz squeaked in surprise, but otherwise did her best to remain calm.

"You do custom jobs, right?' he asked, looking back up at her.

"Yeah," she replied, glad that now this day seemed to be a little less boring. She tentatively took the handle to examine his sword.

"Do you think you could make a rapier with as much base damage as that," he said, then pulled her sword free from the floor, "And with the same enchantments as _this_?"

She stood there, slightly stunned, and then looked down at the sword he had given her, using her appraisal skill to begin the analysis. _Sorrow's Edge_ , she read as the item's name came up. She scanned it further, and almost dropped it again, in complete awe of the weapon's awesome power. In terms of pure attack damage, it was the most powerful sword she had ever seen. Probably more then anyone's seen. It was a complete beast, despite looking like an ordinary rapier. But she also noticed that there were no enchantments on it, as well as blocks preventing any from being added, even from a master smith like herself. Probably the penalty for being so powerful. She looked back at her sword, scanning it as well. The gears began to turn in her head. After a few moments, she came to a decision. In _theory_ , she could forge a sword as powerful as his, as well as a sword with roughly the same enchantments as hers. But to _combine_ both? She almost balked at the idea. Her pride stopped her though. She never backed down from a challenge. She immediately began going over how she would go about it.

"Can you?" the stranger asked after five minutes.

After another few moments, she looked up at him.

"I…yes…," she said, trying to sound confident, but the prospect was still daunting, "Yes, I think I can."

The stranger smiled, a full smile this time, and Liz could swear her heart skipped a beat. He had an amazing smile, too.

"Good."

"But, there is a problem," she said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"There's only way this could work," she said, making sure she met him eye to eye, "I need to combine two very specific metals in order to pull this off. The first is Silverite."

He nodded. He frowned and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, seeming to at least be familiar with the material. Liz had only heard of it through pub stories. It was extremely rare, and even harder to find in quantities large enough for swords. Ingots went for a pretty penny, and even the information broker couldn't get any reliable leads on where to find a large enough source worth the trouble of locating. She, however, had an ace up her sleeve.

"The only Silverite source worth going after is found on floor thirteen," she continued as she saw him process the information, "I've heard from a reliable source that there's a node at the end of a hidden dungeon located there. There'll be enough ingots for _dozens_ of swords. The dungeon itself is _supposedly_ extremely easy to get through. There isn't even a boss. The only problem is that, aside from being _extremely_ well hidden, it's the largest dungeon in the game. It will easily take a week to get through it, three days to get the ingots, and another week to get out. Most players don't even bother attempting it because it isn't easy to find, and there aren't even any item chests worth going after."

He slowly nodded, knowing exactly what it was going to take to get what he wanted.

"The second material I'll need is going to be Crystallite, found only on floor fifty-five, on the Western Mountain," she said, puffing up her chest a little and remembering the last time she'd gotten her hands on the rare metal with Kirito, "There's a dragon there that eats the crystals that grow around a certain area in the northern face of the mountain, and they're transformed into Crystallite ingots in its stomach."

"I see," he said, sighing and uncrossing his arms, "And let me make a wild guess here…you currently don't have either in stock, right?"

She huffed, indignant by his presumptions, however true they might be.

"You're right, _bub_ , I _don't_!" she said, her face reddening from anger, " _Nobody_ on _any floor_ will have them in stock! They're _that_ rare! They have to be found!"

With a smile on his face, he held up his hands in a surrender motion.

"Easy, easy," he said, still smiling softly, "I didn't mean any offense. If I get the materials for you, can you make the sword?"

Lisbeth uncrossed her arms and sighed, angry more at herself for her childish behavior then at his thinly veiled mirth at her expense.

"Sure," she said, resignation laced though out her voice as she raised her head, "But it _will_ cost you. _Bigtime,_ buddy-boy."

He lowered his arms, that soft almost-smile still there, but quickly becoming lost.

"That's fine," he said, "What's the damage"?

She shrugged. She hadn't gotten that far in her plans yet.

"Well…," she said, trying to use all of her barter skill to quickly calculate a price, "My conservative estimate is…one and half million. But that will change depending on labor and other factors."

She smiled smugly, expecting him to balk. It would be almost worth losing the commission to see his face bulge at the outrageous price. He surprised her again when he simply said:

"Fine."

She gasped. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. He'd agreed seemingly without so much as a second thought. She would've fainted if he hadn't extended his hand, obviously wanting his sword back. Dutifully, and a little clumsily, she handed it back as he passed hers with his free hand. He sheathed his sword as he turned to leave, she suddenly remembered what was most important about the materials.

"Hey, wait!" she said, then turned red, suddenly embarrassed about what she needed to propose. He turned back around, looking at her quizzically.

"What?" he replied.

"I'm going with you," she said, "I know where both the locations are that we need to go to."

"That's alright," he said, turning back around to leave, "Just send me maps with exactly where I need to go, and I'll find them and bring them back."

She sucked in her breath as she prepared her little speech. It was just like her time with Kirito.

"You need a master smith in your party in order to get the materials," she said, re-crossing her arms defiantly, "They won't show up unless _I'm_ there."

She heard him grunt and sigh.

"I'm better on my own," he said, sounding just like Kirito had during their adventure. It was utterly disturbing to her how much this situation was similar to how she'd met one of her best friends, "Are you sure I can't just go alone?"

"Yup," she said, putting her uneasiness behind her and reverting to her normal cheerful self, "Without me, no metal. No metal, no sword. Come on! It won't be _that_ bad!"

She had worked herself up into giddy excitement, hopping from foot to foot. She hadn't been out and about in a while, and there was some new gear she'd forged that she wanted to try out. She crossed her arms again, but this time put on her most endearing smile. To her utter surprise, he returned one of his own, although not nearly as big as hers. This just made her hop around cheerfully all the more.

"Alright," he said as he checked his clock, "I guess I'll head back to town and get a room. I'll meet you here tomorrow morning."

"The only inn is on the other side of town, and its pouring outside. The Teleport Gate is only across the bridge, you could just go home and meet me here," she said as she calmed herself down.

He turned to walk away.

"Don't have a home," he said casually as he began to head for the door.

 _Doesn't have a home?_ she thought. _Everyone's bought a place by_ now. _Who is this guy?_ She didn't know what came over her as she called out to him:

"Hey!"

He turned back to look at her.

"Y-you…," she noticed she was beginning to stutter, and forced the words out before she could, "It's raining…and my forge…there's plenty of room down there…and it's warm. And dry. You can sleep down there, if you want. I won't charge you anything."

She noticed him staring, and she immediately looked down at the floor.

"It's the least I can do," she said, her voice almost a whisper, "I mean…if I pull this off, you're going to give me one hell of a payday, right?"

To her shock, she felt a hand on her left shoulder. She gasped as she looked up. She stared into his eyes, and saw a warm kindness in them. It was enough to take her breath away.

"Thanks," he said, "I think I'll do that. I wasn't looking forward to going back into the rain. Only as long as it's not an inconvenience."

Liz brightened up.

"It's no inconvenience at all," she said cheerfully, glad to finally have some company, "It's this way."

He followed her to the back of the shop, and down a spiral staircase. She could tell he was surprised and pleased at the way she had the lay out. It had a coziness about it. A sense of home.

"Well…here we are!" she said with a happy grin, "My home away from home! And…well…uh, I guess my other home is right upstairs, above the shop."

She pointed up to the ceiling to clarify her point. When she noticed he was looking back at her after scanning the room, there was an uncomfortable silence as she suddenly realized she had let a complete stranger spend the night with her.

"Ummm…," she said awkwardly, and starting to back up, "It's…getting late…I'm gonna…close shop, then…head on up to bed. Just…knock on my bedroom door if you need anything, 'kay? There's spare blankets and pillows in the closet over there."

She dashed up the stairs before he could reply. But as her hand reached the handle, it struck her that she hadn't bothered to get a key piece of information. She turned around to look back at him. He had made his way to the indicated closet, and was in the process of removing a blanket.

"W-what's…," she again stuttered, but again forcing herself to get the words out, "What's your name?"

He looked back up, a ghost of a smile still on his face.

"Siren," he said before turning and laying the blanket a few feet away from the heat of the smelter.

"Siren," she repeated, "Well, you might as well just call me 'Liz'. Everyone I know does."

He nodded at her as Lisbeth turned and left the room.

Shutting the door to the forge room behind her, she let her breath out, not realizing she had been holding it. She sighed. _What the hell did I just do_? she thought. She decided not to think about her poor decision making skills, especially when it came to strangers. She walked across the room and locked the front door. As she made her way to the other staircase leading to her private quarters, she paused briefly to look back at the door to her forge, wondering if she should lock the guy in. After a moment of deliberation, she decided not to. She could lock her bedroom door, and she would notice if he stole anything from her shop. She just wanted to get to bed so she could get up early and prepare for the quest.

* * *

Lisbeth finished changing her clothes as she got ready for bed. She snuffed out the candle on the dresser, then made sure to lock the door. Just to be safe. As she got into bed, thoughts coursed unbidden through her mind, keeping her from going to sleep. She consented to just lie still on her back, looking up at her ceiling and trying to sort them out. The chief among them was this mysterious stranger's name.

 _Siren_ she thought. An unusual name at best, even for an Avatar. Did he mean like a police or ambulance siren? She didn't think so. That would be dumb. She racked her brain for a while to see if she remembered anything that might be useful. She happened to turn her head, and noticed her bookshelf. Her eyes settled on a dusty old volume. _The Odyssey_ , the spine read. She remembered she had read it the summer before she went into Sword Art Online for her school's assigned summer reading. Wasn't there something in that book about something called a Siren? She racked her brain further.

She remembered something about them being supposedly located on an island off the coast of Sicily. She also remembered that they were supposed to look like beautiful women. Why in the _hell_ would he name himself after _that_ , then? _Was he…?_ _No_. _There must be something else_ she thought as she drove through every scrap of memory she had of the book, looking for something, anything, that might shed just a little more light on the stranger sleeping below her. _Wait_. Something fairly important about the creatures came to back to her. _Didn't they have something to do with death?...Yes!_ It hit her like a ton of bricks. _They had the most beautiful voices ever, and lured passing sailors to their deaths with the most haunting songs any human ears had ever heard._ She frowned. How did any of that information help her? She couldn't make it fit, and she fell asleep pondering the mystery.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Lisbeth sat on her bed as she finished polishing her mace, smiling at the reflection of herself in its mirrored surface. When she was satisfied, she gave it a few practice swings. She grunted with the effort, and sighed. She was clearly getting soft, with her almost never leaving her forge nowadays. She needed to get out more and work on her mace technique. With a humph, she equipped the weapon to her belt, determined to take care of that on this trip. She then turned to the full length mirror on the other side of the room and scrutinized over her appearance. Her armor and underclothing all fit properly, and her mace and small buckler worked well together. Satisfied, she went to her safe and went over what she needed to bring. After thinking it over, she packed her inventory full of healing and antidote crystals, plus a couple of teleport crystals. It was probably overkill, and she was sure Siren would likely be the one doing most of the heavy lifting in terms of combat, but still, she liked to be prepared. And this time, she made sure to add a coat to her inventory. When she was satisfied, she smiled, and walked up to her door, unlocking it and letting herself out into the hallway.

She found Siren, leaning against the wall near the entrance to her shop and with his arms crossed as he stared into space, waiting for her. At her approach, he seemed to be pulled out of his thoughts, and turned towards her. At first, his neutral face and blank expression put her off when she walked across the room, but she was surprised when, as he turned towards her, the frown on his face slowly changed to a small smile.

"Morning," he said kindly.

"Good morning," she said with a nervous chuckle and yawn, stretching her arms to loosen up, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, very well, thank you. You're forge is quite a homely little place. I enjoyed staying there," he replied, that small, almost half-smile still tugging at the corners of his mouth.

She smiled and blushed at his compliment. His charming smile was getting to her, she knew.

"Ready to go?" she heard him ask, and immediately the slowly building fire in her was extinguished, at least for now. Floor fifty five was going to be hell, no matter the company.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she melancholically, "I'm not looking forward to dancing with that dragon again."

He laughed as she gave an exasperated sigh and walked towards him to unlock the shop door and let them out.

"Don't worry," he said as he stepped aside for her, "I was planning on going to floor thirteen to get the Silverite first. The dragon can wait."

She turned to him, smiling radiantly.

"Awesome idea!" she said happily, "I'd rather be bored stiff in that nightmarishly dull dungeon then be dragon chow in that frozen hell hole!"

He gave her another of his small smiles as he walked past her outside.

"Yup," was his only response as she locked her shop back up behind her and activated a sign on the door.

She could almost feel him glancing at it over her shoulder: _**Closed until further notice. Leave any messages with Agil in Algade, Floor 50, Merchant Shop off the main Boulevard. Will return them as soon as possible.**_

"Alright, let's go!" she said, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.

Siren gave her another one of his half-smiles, and she felt her heart flutter again for a moment. Forcing herself to calm down, and annoyed at her girlish reactions to his seemingly innocent gestures, she heard a ping, and looked at her display. He had sent her a party request. Happily, she clicked the affirmative button, and as she saw his name appear below hers in her HUD, she gasped. The guy had thirty thousand HP! And to top it off, she glanced at his level indicator, and was nearly floored when she saw he was level one hundred and one! Even Kirito and Asuna weren't that powerful, and they were two of the strongest players in the game.

"Something wrong?" she heard him ask.

"Wha..! No! Nothing at all!" she said as she tried to regain her composure. She really needed to find out who this guy was.

He gave her another almost smile, then lead the way as duo set out for the Teleport Gate.

* * *

They walked at a steady pace through the thick forest that supposedly surrounded the opening of the dungeon. Despite his friendly-ish demeanor, Liz found it quite troublesome to make conversation with her new traveling companion. He spoke when spoken to, but proved impossible in being able to keep a discussion going.

"Sooooo…" she tried again for the thousandth time to engage in any form of communication, "Where were you from?"

He stopped abruptly and turned so fast she nearly ran into him. When she looked up into his face, the pleasant almost-smile of his was gone. Instead, for a split second, she saw nothing but sorrow. It was gone before she could blink, and his face now had that neutral expression that it had when he first entered her shop.

"Why do you care?" he asked.

It wasn't the question itself that shocked her, but the manner in which it was said. There wasn't an annoyance to it, as she had expected. Instead, there was a soft curiosity, as if he truly wanted to know why she cared about something as arbitrary as where he lived. As if a concept like that should have been dead and buried a long time ago.

"Uh…well…," she stammered, trying to find a good reason to simply talk to him, "I…just wanted to clear the air, I guess. You know, talk? We're going to be traveling together for a while, after all. Might as well get to know each other a little."

He continued to stare at her, and she looked at the forest floor, unable to meet his eyes. She felt like he was analyzing her, which he could be doing with his HUD. But this was different. Data analysis had nothing to do with it. She felt like he was scrutinizing her person, her _soul_. She was almost about to tell him to forget she had said anything, if to just get those piercing eyes off of her, when he finally responded.

"I…suppose that's fair," he said as he turned away from her, "But I don't like talking about myself. Nor do I like incessant questions."

She hung her head. She knew that when she got started, she never stopped talking. She silently reprimanded herself for pissing him off. She really needed to learn when to shut up, and she shook with frustration at herself. He must have noticed this, because the next moment she felt a hand on her shoulder, just like the night before. She lifted her head back up to face him. His eyes had softened, and she immediately felt herself relax.

"I'm sorry," he said, "If you want to talk, that's fine, I'll listen. Chatter all day, if you want. I don't mind in the least. I just don't want to talk about me. I'm…sort of a private person."

"I understand," Lisbeth said meekly, still not looking at him.

"Look," he said, the gentleness returning to his voice, "You can ask me three personal questions a day, and I'll answer them honestly. Are you okay with that arrangement?"

Lisbeth immediately looked up and nodded her head vigorously, completely stunned into silence. He took his hand from her shoulder and turned to start walking again.

"Alright, and that's your first question," he said, a heaviness in his voice as he prepared to answer, "I'm not from Japan. I'm originally from America. From California, to be exact."

"Where in California?" Liz said, excited about the conversation. She then slapped her hands over her mouth, "Are you going to count that as my second question?"

He shook his head, and though she couldn't see his face from her position behind him, she was sure he was smiling.

"No, you get a free pass for that one," he said, looking behind him to make sure she was keeping up, "I was born in Palo Alto."

When Liz gave him a confused look, he clarified for her.

"It's near San Francisco," he said, "In California's famed Silicon Valley."

"Oh!" she said, knowing, roughly, where the general area was.

"Yeah," he said as he continued down the forest path, "Me and my parents moved to Japan when I was eight."

"I see," Liz said as she kept pace with him, eagerly hoping that he would supply more information. He must have understood what she was thinking, because he continued of his own volition.

"My parents made sure I was fluent in Japanese a year before the move," he finally said, "Along with several other languages."

Liz tried her best to wait until he supplied more information himself. She didn't want to use her second question asking him what languages he was able to speak. She heard him sigh, and smiled as she knew he was going to answer.

"English is my primary language," he said, "But I'm fluent in Japanese, Chinese, German and Italian."

"Wow!" Liz said, wonder in her voice at such an accomplishment. She desperately wanted to know more, but didn't know if she should give up one of her questions to ask. What if something interesting came along later, and she wanted to know? She decided to go ahead. She had tomorrow, after all.

"Why did your parents make you learn _five_ languages?" she asked.

"They're the CEO and COO of one of the most powerful corporations in the field of Virtual Reality," he said, pausing briefly to check his map, "Their biggest clients and allied companies are from those countries. So if I'm going to inherit their 'legacy', carry on the family business, I need to be able to communicate with our associates."

Lisbeth kept quiet as she processed the information. This was becoming more interesting by the second, though she was starting to feel sympathy for the guy. A lot had been expected of him growing up. More than any kid should have had to endure. What was worse, he had his life mapped out for him before he was even born. She shuddered when she tried to imagine how she would feel if she'd been told all her life what she was going to do and who she was going to be. It wasn't a pleasant thought.

"With their main labs back in Silicon Valley, they moved their headquarters to Japan in order to work with several rising stars," he continued as he verified their bearings, "They even had Akihiko Kayaba on retainer as a consultant for a while, before he decided to leave permanently and divert all of his attention to Argus. That really pissed them off."

"I could see that," she said, waiting for him to go on. She saw him nod in acknowledgement.

"They wanted to be at the forefront of the Virtual World Project, just like Kayaba, but that's about how align their goals were," he said, putting away his map, "Where Kayaba was merely interested in creating VRMMORPG's, they wanted to put the idea of virtual reality to a more practical, and profitable, use. Primarily in the field of medicine."

"Medicine?" Lisbeth asked, more intrigued then ever.

"Yeah," he said, checking his compass as he walked, "They believed that Virtual Reality could be harnessed and used to treat people in comas that have little to no chance of waking up. Hook a comatose person up to VR server, then set up one for the doctor, and the doctor would, in _theory_ be able to communicate with the patient in the Virtual world, if not the real world. Or, as would be expected, loved ones could go visit them. And my parents would charge exorbitant fees for the use of the equipment per visit, making sure only the extremely wealthy would be able to take advantage of it. Say what you want about that madman Kayaba, at least he isn't _profiting_ from our misery, as far as we know."

He spat the word 'profiting' with such bile hatred, that Lisbeth took a step back from him. He noticed this and looked over his shoulder, and Liz saw clarity and shame dawn in his eyes.

"Sorry," he muttered as he turned back around to continue towards the dungeon, "Like I said, I don't like talking about myself. But…let's just say I have a… _strained_ relationship with my parents, and leave it at that, alright?"

She nodded, though she knew he couldn't see it. She continued to follow behind him, her mind racing. From little he said, she could understand why he felt the way he did regarding his parents. It would take truly awful human beings to have something that could bring so many families a sense of hope in reconnecting with lost loved ones, and only allowing those with money access to it.

Deciding she had enough information to think about to last her a while, Lisbeth remained silent as she and Siren headed further into the forest of floor thirteen.

* * *

The sun was already almost halfway below the horizon when Siren stopped. Liz, lost in her thoughts, nearly ran into him. She watched as he surveyed the area, then stretch as he yawned.

"Guess we can make camp here," he said as he started gathering sticks for a fire, "It's as good a place as any."

Lisbeth nodded as she had a look around the area. Spying a couple of logs, she walked over and began dragging them. She grunted from the effort, and silently cursed. It seems days of swinging a hammer nonstop did absolutely nothing to increase her strength parameters. When she had finally dragged them to opposite sides of the now roaring campfire, she sat on one with a relieved sigh. Her stomach growled, and she remembered Asuna had made her a couple of sandwiches. Grinning with anticipation, she pulled her picnic basket out of her inventory and set it on the ground by her feet. Grabbing one of the sandwiches with a happy squeal, she took a large bite, and sighed as the flavors soaked her tongue. As she chewed contentedly, she happened to look up, and noticed Siren staring at the fire as he nibbled on what looked like a travel roll. She grimaced. Those rolls had massive durability, so were perfect for long journeys away from towns, but they were absolutely flavorless, and the texture was almost like eating a big ball of lint. She looked at her sandwich, knowing she desperately wanted to eat the second one as well, but, just like the night before, she couldn't help herself.

"Hey, Siren?" she said meekly.

When he looked up at the sound of her voice, she reached down and pulled out the other sandwich.

"Do…you want this one?" she asked, and when he gave her a confused look, she blushed and looked down, "My friend, Asuna, made them. She's a great chef. I just…I noticed you eating those travel rolls. I know they're horrible, so I thought you might want something a little…tastier."

When he didn't respond for several seconds, she was on the verge of sheepishly rescinding her offer and putting the sandwich away for later, when he smiled and waved at her.

"That's alright," he said, "Your friend made those for you. As good as they look, you should enjoy them."

She wasn't expecting that answer. His friendly demeanor and soft voice were beginning to endear himself to her. She could feel it, and immediately fought against it. It was just like with Kirito. She didn't want to risk a repeat of that fiasco. But, she also didn't want to see him eating shit while she chowed down on Asuna's decadent meal. She got up and walked around the fire. When she was standing in front of him. He gaped at her as she handed him the second sandwich.

"Please," she said, smiling to reassure him, "I insist."

"I really don't…"

"Nope," she said, "Really, I want you have to it. You haven't _lived_ until you've had some of Asuna's cooking! Just a bite! _Please_!"

She knew she had him when he finally gave a slight sigh and smiled.

"Alright," he said, "Just a bite.

With a grin, she handed him the wrapped package containing the sandwich. She watched as he unwrapped it and tentatively took a bite. Her grin expanded until it was almost ear to ear when she saw the look of wonder on his face.

"This is…" he said, his eyes wide and his mouth slack, "Amazing!"

Liz sat next to him on his log and began eating her own sandwich with gusto.

"I told you!" she said happily as she chomped on the last few bites of her meal.

When both had finished, they scooted off the log and used it as back rests as they enjoyed the fire. They stayed that way for a while, in silent camaraderie, content to merely be close. As Lisbeth's mind wandered, she stole a quick glance at him. Her appraisal skill came into effect automatically, and scanned his armor. Like she thought, it was hardened leather. But there was something wrong. At first, she couldn't put her finger on it, but as she reviewed the stats for the second time, it hit her. It was hardened leather, sure, but such a light material provided almost no protection for a player of his level.

She stole a glance at his face to make sure he hadn't noticed her analyzing him. He had shifted his position, and was now using the log as a head rest, his face looking up to the night sky, though his eyes were closed, and he had his hands folded behind his head. She couldn't help but notice his face was even more handsome relaxed then it was when in it's normal, neutral, state. She looked at his lips, and couldn't stop herself from imagining what it would be like to lean over and kiss him. She looked away quickly, shaking her head to clear the picture from her mind. Her cheeks burned as one of the deepest blushes she ever had filled her face. When she felt she had her traitorous thoughts sufficiently under control, she risked looking back at him. He never moved a muscle, and she was thankful that he obviously hadn't heard her, or noticed her moment of flustered weakness.

Forcing control over herself, she looked him over again. She tried adding up what she knew about him. He was quiet and reserved, which seemed to indicate that he didn't spend much time around other people. He wore extremely light armor. He had a sword that was designed for speed, yet forfeited that to pack a big punch instead. He had double the HP of any elite player out there, even Kirito and Asuna. And he had the most haunted eyes she'd ever seen in any player. Something deep down inside caused him pain, though no one would know it just by looking at him. She'd barely been able to see it the previous evening. But she knew better then to pursue such topics. Remembering what he'd said earlier about being private, she knew bringing up the subject would be a bad idea. Better to stick with something tangible. And fairly obvious. Her eyes set on the black plate strapped across the upper half of his chest. Wanting to know more about his armor, she decided to use her last question of the day.

"Siren?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah?" he said with a contented grunt and smile on his face.

"Why do you wear such light armor?" she asked. She saw him open an eye and turn it towards her.

"Why do you ask?" he said softly.

She had expected a sharp retort about minding her own damn business, and to leave him be. She had already begun wincing in anticipation of the angry reply. To her amazement, his reply hadn't been sharp or mean spirited at all. Just like earlier, it came out like him simply wanting to know why she was curious. She let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. _This guy must have the patience of a saint_ she thought.

"Well…" she said, her growing steadier as she spoke, "I hope you don't mind, but I noticed you have an extremely big HP pool. Your health's at nearly twice what's normal, even for a player of a comparable level. I just wanted to know why you wouldn't want to be better protected in order to take advantage of that. Your armor just seems too light."

She waited for several seconds. She didn't think it would be that hard of a question to answer. When he finally did, his voice seemed tired. Almost as if he had aged in a matter of moments.

"You make a good point," he said, still not opening his eyes, "I guess the only answer I've got is that heavier armor slows me down. I think quickly, I move quickly, and I fight quickly. With this set, I get at least some protection, and I'm able to move unhindered."

"But aren't you vulnerable?" she asked.

"I guess if you look at it from a purely statistical point of view," he said nonchalantly, "I prefer to see it as freedom of motion. The best armor is speed and maneuverability. At least in my opinion. I have at least _some_ protection _where_ it counts, but I'm also unhindered enough to take full advantage of my range of motion. That's good enough for me."

Lisbeth mulled this over in her mind. The only people she knew like that were Asuna and Kirito, but they worked as a hard hitting tag-team. She looked at her HUD. She didn't see a Guild indicator near his name. _Was_ he a solo player, like Kirito? _He can't be_ she thought, _All the high level players are in guilds. Except Kirito_. _He's the one exception to the rule. The one_ crazy _exception._ Surly he would have somebody in a party with him when he went out, at least to act as a tank. But from what little she'd learned about him, he seemed like a loner. She thought to try her hand at asking him, even if she'd already used up here three questions for the day. Maybe he'd let it slide, like he did earlier.

"Are you part of guild?" she asked, hoping he'd answer.

"Haven't you used your three questions for the day?" he retorted, still not bothering to open his eyes.

"Yeah…but…I," she said lamely, knowing it was useless. He wasn't going to answer. She just about to storm off and pout, when she heard him speak again.

"No," he said, quietly, "I'm not in a guild. I'm a solo player."

Liz couldn't say anything. Her assumptions had been right. He was a solo player, after all. But that only raised more questions then gave answers. She wanted…no… she _needed_ to know more.

"Why?" she asked, trying to keep her excitement in check.

"Now you're pushing it," he said.

"Sorry," she muttered, defeat evident in her voice.

She saw him frown, then turn over. When he didn't move again, she decided he had fallen asleep. Sighing, she turned over, herself, and closed her eyes, though her troubled thoughts kept her up long into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **Hey again! So, first thing's first: sorry for the late update! The last couple of weeks have been really stressful at my job, as my company is entering its busy season, but I hope now I can keep a steady update schedule (approximately either every Friday evening or Saturday morning),** _ **and**_ **I hope what I have here was worth the wait. Oh, and for the two of you who left reviews, your praise and kindness means a lot to me. So, without further ado…**

Lis groaned as she rolled over on the hard ground. The sun was shining down on her face, searing through her eyelids and causing her to shriek and throw her arms over her eyes. When the pain in the back of her eyes abated, she cautiously removed her arm from her face. The sky was a deep and calming blue that was visible through the tops of the trees, and the sun, now that it wasn't rendering her blind, was warm and invigorating. Carefully, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She yawned as she looked around the makeshift campsite. She immediately became nervous when she didn't see Siren.

"Siren?" she called softly, beginning to scan the area quickly.

She was rewarded with a rustling in the tree-line behind her as a shadow engulfed her. She squealed in panic, quickly spinning on her butt to face the intruder. To her relief, and utter irritation, it was Siren. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and to her astonishment, he was actually chuckling. She growled at him in irritation, but despite her anger, she couldn't help but be swept off her feet. The small laugh was heavenly to hear, and it was a nice change from the quiet and neutral expression he always seemed to wear.

"Did I scare you?" he asked cheekily, giving her one of his small, almost-smiles that she was slowly falling in love with. When she realized how she was beginning to acknowledge her growing feelings, she shook her head to clear her thoughts. She wanted none of that, not on this little excursion.

"Of course not!" she almost, but not quite, shouted, "You…you… _startled_ me! That's _ALL_! I mean, come on! Creeping through the forest like that! You're lucky you didn't get a mace in the face!"

He immediately put up his hands in a surrender motion, the smile staying on his face a few moments longer.

"Sorry about that," he said, "I didn't mean to… _startle_ you."

She huffed and folded her arms across her chest, but the anger left as quickly as it came.

"What were you doing skulking around, anyway?" she asked. He looked like he'd been up for hours, not the slightest bit of evidence of any exhaustion, despite the long journey.

She watched as he smiled again, then opened up his menu for party view. What she saw made her mouth water. There were several pieces of boar meat, as well as eggs and wild berries displayed before her.

"Hunting," he said as he closed her view of his menu, "Thought you'd like some breakfast."

"Breakfast sounds great!" she said excitedly, only to realize that meant he'd been up since early morning. Checking her HUD's clock, she saw with a gasp that it was nearly ten in the morning, "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?! I could've helped you!"

He smiled again as he sat on his log and started gathering fire wood together to get breakfast started.

"You looked really peaceful," he replied as he brought out a flint and started striking it on a stone above the tinder he'd arranged, "I didn't want to disturb you. Besides, it's the least I could do after you let me stay in your shop. And for the sandwich."

Lis blushed at his comment, but kept quiet as he got the fire going. She watched as he opened his inventory and pulled out several pieces of meat in one hand, and a couple of eggs in the other.

"How does bacon and eggs, and biscuits with jam sound?" he asked casually.

"Great!" she responded enthusiastically.

She got up and brushed herself off as he pulled a frying pan out of his inventory. She walked over and sat down next to him as he held the pan over the flames. When the pan started smoking, indicating its rising heat, he began dropping in slices of meat, followed by a couple of eggs. The tantalizing smells drifting to her nose made her mouth water.

She watched as he gripped the pan with his left hand, and used his right to open his inventory. He pulled out two plates, and after loading them with food, handed her one filled with steaming meat, bubbling eggs, with two biscuits covered in jam on the side. She squealed happily, and removed her gloves as fat as she could before digging in. Out of the corner of eye, she noticed Siren daintily pick up morsels with his pointer finger and thumb. This caused her to chuckle. She noticed him look up with a confused expression.

"What?"

"Nothing!" she said through a mouth full of egg, trying to hold her chuckles in, "Just…the way you're eating…!"

He raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Something funny about the way I eat?"

"No!" she said, still trying to hide her smile, as well as her mouth full of food, "It's just…"

"Just…?"

"Well…," she stopped eating a moment to swallow, and gave a small, nervous cough, hoping to get her giggles under control, "It's just that…the way you eat…picking at your food so _delicately_ …it's just funny!"

She couldn't hold it in anymore as she guffawed, nearly dropping the remainder of her food on the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Siren wave her off, before resuming his meal. They ate in companionable silence after that, she enjoying both the food and the company.

* * *

When they were finished with their meal, they were back on the trail thorough the forest.

As they pushed through dense underbrush and tress that seemed to grow thicker the further they went, she could feel it getting hotter. Soon enough, she was sweating, and getting tired, and, to top it all off, she was getting cranky. She knew she needed to do something to keep her mind off of how uncomfortable she was getting, so she decided to think of what her three questions of the day would be.

It took her all of two minutes to decide on her first one.

"Hey, Siren?"

"Hmm?" he replied. His back was to her, and he seemed to be looking at something, probably his map, or his menu.

"Question one of the day: how old are you?"

He stopped suddenly, and, again, she almost ran in to him.

"Huh," she heard him say, slight confusion in his voice, "You know…I haven't thought about that in a while…"

Catching her breath now, she chuckled a little as she saw him stare off into space, obviously thinking of the answer. It's not like anyone celebrated birthdays anymore, but she at least still kept track of how old she was. Her giggles continued as she saw him bring his hand up to his chin in a thinking pose. She could also see his menu was open.

"I'll…be eighteen this December," he finally said.

"Really?" she said. Despite the fact that it was, for all intents and purposes, a seemingly inane bit of information, it still caused her mind to wander. She, unwilling as she was, was beginning to put together an image of him. A picture of him as a person. He was kind. He was pleasant, if a bit stand-offish. He was thoughtful. He was extremely intelligent. And not to mention, he was gorgeous; she couldn't deny it to herself anymore.

He started walking again, so she decided to keep the conversation going.

"I just turned seventeen," she said, waiting to see what his response would be.

"Really…" he said, but kept going.

She stopped walking. It was a mere off-hand comment, like he wasn't really paying attention to her. She leaned a little to the left, and noticed he was looking at is menu again. She huffed, slightly annoyed at being brushed off. She moved up next to him, hoping to get his attention, or at least catch a peek at what he was looking at. She was sure he wasn't paying attention to her, she looked at his display, and shocked at what saw. On his menu display, moving in and out of view for her due to the fluttering of his cloak, was a picture of a beautiful girl. That in itself wasn't the shocking part, however. No. What made it shocking, was that, not only was it a picture of a beautiful girl, but he was in the picture as well. He and the girl wore the same style of black leather jacket, and in the background, she could see a cherry blossom tree in full bloom. If she looked carefully, she could also see part of the great Shinto gate leading to the Meiji Shrine, and she knew the photo was taken at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo.

The picture was lovely, but none of those things caught her attention. What did was the pose he and the girl were in. They were facing each other, but their faces were turned towards the camera. She was leaning into him, her face pressed into his chest, and Lis could clearly see her arms wrapped lovingly around him, and a shy, but lovely, smile on her face. In turn, he had his arms wrapped around her shoulders, his chin resting on her head. What sealed the deal for her, though, was his face. If she thought his small half-smiles were incredible, the sight of the full-fledged grin on his face took her breath away. And she also noticed his eyes. As far as she's known him, his eyes were soft, holding kindness, warmth and, deep down, pain, a pain he seemed desperate to keep on the inside. But here, in this picture, his eyes held nothing but pure joy and happiness. The person in the photo, a young man, in absolute happiness and in his prime, was a stark contrast to the tired, defeated warrior she saw before her. Seeing the way he was back then, versus how he was now, she could see the pain and loneliness he radiated. She immediately felt a stab in her chest, right in her heart, and she couldn't help but gasp. When she looked up, however, the glare he was giving made shivers go down her spine.

"The hell are you looking at?!" he nearly yelled as he turned away from her.

She stumbled back a few steps. She had yet to see him angry, and she suddenly felt uneasy. With his seemingly kind persona, it was easy for her to forget that he was essentially a stranger, and she didn't know how he was going to react. Unconsciously, her right hand drifted ever so slightly to her mace's handle. She continued to watch his back, seeing him sigh, and his shoulders slump slightly. His arm moved in front of him, and she heard the chirp of his menu closing.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, and she relaxed at his calm tone, "But I would appreciate it if you didn't look over my shoulder at my personal files."

Without waiting for her response, he continued walking through the trees. Realizing, he was leaving her behind, Lis jogged to catch up, reaching out to touch his arm.

"Siren…?"

She nearly ran into him, _again_ , when he stopped suddenly… _again_.

"Hey, what gives?!" she barked indignantly as she backed up, "That's the third time in two days that I almost ran into your…"

"Shhh!"

"Hey! Don't shush me! Who do you think…"

"Lis, SHUT UP!" he said loudly.

Completely startled by the forceful command, she did as he said. She kept her eyes on him, but he just stood there, occasionally turning his head slightly from side to side. After a couple of minutes, she began to feel foolish, but didn't want to provoke him. After another five minutes of waiting in the steadily rising heat, however, she decided to try and get his attention.

"Siren…?"

What happened next was so fast, she almost missed it.

He spun around so quickly she felt the vacuum of air swirl around her, and the next thing she knew, his hand was pushing down on her head. Before she had time to protest, she felt the centrifugal force of the wake of a heavy object passing through the place where her head had been not two seconds earlier. Siren then grabbed the front of her armored shirt, and she shrieked as he yanked her like a rag doll. The next thing she knew, she was standing behind him. She was about to yell at him in anger, when she heard an animal-like grunt.

She stood on her the tips of her toes, and looked over his shoulder. She screamed when she saw three huge Drunken Ape monsters standing not five feet from where she was standing, the one in the lead bent over, and the arm holding its club at an exaggerated angle. Tracing the path of the swing, she realized that the thing had tried to take her head off. A successful sneak attack, with its massive critical hit bonus, would've kill her instantly. Siren had saved her life.

She then heard the familiar scraping sound of a sword being pulled from its scabbard, as well as the whirl of a sword skill being activated. There was a boom, an inhuman shriek, and the thud of a large object impacting the ground. When the dust cleared, the Drunken Ape that had tried to kill her was ten yards behind its compatriots, with a quarter of its health bar gone. Siren still stood in front of her, right arm holding his rapier, left arm in front of her to block any potential threats.

"What are these guys doing here?" she heard Siren ask to no one in particular, "I thought they were only in the Wandering Forest on floor thirty-five."

The ape that was flung back by Siren's attack struggled to its feet, bringing the gourd it carried to its lips. Lis saw its health replenish to full. These versions were obviously far more powerful, and dangerous, than the ones on floor thirty-five.

"Lis…"

"Y-yeah?" she managed to squeak out. She couldn't remember ever being this afraid.

"Get out a teleport crystal."

She nodded, and immediately rummaged around in her pockets until she brought out the bright blue object. Without thinking, she reached out with her left hand and grabbed his left shoulder, and a feeling a warmth and comfort from where her hand currently was, then up her arm, and eventually radiating through her entire body. After a few moments, though, her mind caught up with her body. She gasped at her own forwardness, and tried to pull her hand away as she blushed furiously. However, he seemed to know that she wanted, _needed_ , some form of comfort, and the next thing she knew, he had reached back and placed his own hand over hers. Her face felt like it was on fire, and his hand felt so good over hers, she never wanted him to let go. She felt him give her hand a gentle squeeze before lifting away, causing her to sigh softly in sadness.

"Stay behind me. If anything happens to me, teleport out as fast as you can."

Her blushing faded, if ever so slightly, as her pride came to the fore. She even ignored the fear currently coursing through her.

"I'm an expert mace-user! I can help!"

"Just do as I say!" he shouted. She flinched slightly, but kept her eyes on him. She watched as he turned his head to the left to look at her over his shoulder, "If anything happens to you, I'll never forgive myself. Find cover, and stay back… _please_."

She didn't know if it was _what_ he said, the pleading of voice, or the absolutely breath taking look of concern in his eyes, but she found herself nodding to him just as the apes let out roars of rage. As they charged forward, she began stepping back, and Siren rushed to meet them.

Ducking behind a large tree, Lis peaked around the trunk, and was amazed at what she saw.

Siren danced back and forth among the three clumsy creatures, stabbing and slashing like a man possessed, saving his sword skills for when they could do the most damage. Lis was amazed. He was unbelievably fast with his thrusts, his speed and dexterity keeping him out of harm's way, but he was also able to inflict heavy slashes like; very unusual for a rapier-user.

When an enraged ape tried an overhead strike, he again demonstrated speed, agility, and acrobatics. He was there one moment, and gone the next. The creature slammed its club through thin air, a thud echoing throughout the area when it impacted the ground, and as it roared in rage at having missed its target, it was slammed into a tree from a furious multi-stabbing sword skill in its flank. Before it could get back up, Siren rushed up to it, and in one smooth stroke, decapitated the monster in swift blow. As it shattered into thousands of digital polygons and disappeared, Lis saw one of the remaining two charge at him from behind. Before she could open her mouth to shout a warning, however, he'd spun around on his heels, and with a flick of his wrist, used a classic rapier riposte, knocking the beast's sideways strike back the it had come. With another flick of his wrist, he pulled his arm back, and charged up another sword skill, unleashing a powerful stab right into the ape's chest. It, too, exploded into a mess of glittering polygons before evaporating.

Lis was so amazed at what she was seeing, she didn't notice the shadow creeping up behind her until it completely covered her. Spinning around, she shrieked in terror as another Drunken Ape stood before her, club raised high over its head. She fell to her knees, in no position to defend herself, or flee, as it brought its weapon down.

"SIREN!" she screamed, closing her eyes hoping against hope…

She felt, then heard, a whoosh, and the shadow around her darkened. After a couple of moments, when she realized she was neither in pain, nor dead, she slowly opened her eyes. They then shot open in astonishment as she took in the scene before her. Siren was standing in front of her, left arm bracing his right hand, as he used all of his strength to hold off the ape.

Giving a loud grunt, Siren braced himself, then pushed off with his legs, forcing the Drunken Ape back. With lightning fast reflexes, he activated his multi-stab sword skill. The monster was thrown to the ground from the assault, and Lis gave a cheer as Siren held his blade up in a reverse grip, point down, to finish it off. As he brought his sword down in a coup de grace, the ape vaporizing like its compatriots, Lis saw another shadow approaching. In a heartbeat, Siren was thrown forward, and his health dipped into the severe red zone on her HUD. She looked to her left, and saw the remaining Drunken Ape standing over his still body.

"SIREN!" she screamed in fear again when he didn't get up. She guessed he was probably unconscious.

As the ape raised its club to deliver the final blow to her companion, time seemed to slow, then stop, for Lis. Her senses became hyper aware. The sweat running down her face. The way Siren's hair fell over his closed eyes. The drool dripping from the snarling creature's muzzle. Her harsh breathing. The chirps of virtual birds in the trees. The sound of a brook nearby. The smell of pine on the breeze. The ape's awful odor. The odd smell of a flower she couldn't identify. The weight of her body resting on her legs. The course grass surrounding her fingers. The chafe of her armored plates. The taste of bile and fear on her tongue…

It was as if she no longer had control of her body, like she had stepped out of herself, and was now a mere spectator. She watched as she stood up. She watched as she opened her menu as she brought up her left arm. Quickly equipping her buckler, she dove for Siren's body. Time suddenly sped up for her then, and she once again found herself in her body, again a part of this terrifying situation. She wasn't scared for herself, however. No. She was terrified she wouldn't reach Siren in time.

The massive ape roared as it brought its club down in full force, and Lis prayed to whatever god who might be listening that she wasn't too late. Just as the club was about to make contact with Siren's head, she managed to get her buckler under it. The pain was amazing, and she knew that if she were in the real world, her arm would very likely have been shattered. As it was, her status flashed with a warning message, indicating her left arm had been crippled.

 _NO SHIT!_ she thought as she struggled against the pain to keep her shield over Siren's body despite the ape putting its full wait against her arm. _Come on!_ she thought, _You're an expert mace-user! Time to prove it!_ She managed to get her legs under her and, after finding purchase with her boots, started pushing back. Knowing that she wouldn't win this contest of strength unless she did something fast, she brought up her right arm and locked it against her left like she'd seen with Siren. Trying her best to ignore the agony flaring from her crippled appendage, she gave a mighty heave, and somehow managed to shove the ape back.

Obviously not anticipating this, the ape gave a yowl of surprise as it struggled to maintain its balance. Lis knew she couldn't let this opportunity go to waste, so, pushing aside the throbbing pain in her arm, she grabbed her mace off of her belt, and as she swung she activated a sword skill. The blow landed right in the ape's left cheek, and sent it crashing back several feet back.

Cautiously, she got up and slowly made her way over to the fallen ape, cradling her crippled arm, but still managing to hold on to her mace. Making sure she stood between it and Siren, she approached it, she looked at her HUD, and saw that, amazingly, her attack had nearly drained all of its health bar. She smiled.

 _One more good whack, and its done!_ She thought happily as she raised her mace above her head.

Suddenly, the ape's fist shot up, the blow landing straight into the center of her face. She yelled out in pain, and closed her eyes as she was knocked back next to where Siren lay.

It seemed to take an eternity for her to finally be able to open her eyes, and when she did, she gasped as she saw the ape now leering over her, its club raised high. She looked at her health bar, and saw to her dismay that more than half of her hit points were gone. She knew she wouldn't survive this attack. Closing her eyes again, she waited for the inevitable.

Like before, the end didn't come. What she heard was a groan, like something someone would make after taking a punch to the stomach. Opening her eyes again, she saw the ape frozen in place, a look of complete shock on its face, and the point of a very thin blade in its chest. It then exploded into the digital polygons that marked an in-game death.

Still not quite believing what she was seeing, she blinked a couple of times, then, dropping her mace, used her hand to rub her eyes. Nope. The ape was gone, and she could still see the point of the sword above her head. She slowly turned around, and saw Siren, supporting himself on one arm, and panting heavily. She watched as he slowly pulled his arm back, sheathing his sword, then brought his hand up to wipe the sweat from his face. He looked horrible.

"Siren…?" at the sound of her voice, he turned to look at her, and she knew he was analyzing her.

Before she could say anything else he reached toward one of the pouches on his belt, and brought out a red vile. He took a shaky breath as he handed it to her.

"Here…take this. It'll recover your hit points, and heal your arm."

"But…what about you?" she asked as she hesitantly took the vile.

"I'll be fine. Just drink it."

Nodding, she brought the vile to her lips, and sighed in pleasure as the sweet liquid inside coated her tongue. She immediately began to feel better, her health bar recovering quickly and her arm was no longer in pain. When she was finished, the bottle evaporated, and she looked back towards Siren, wanting to thank him.

He was doubled over, and panting heavily, looking like he was going to pass out again. She looked at his health bar, and saw the crippling injuries he'd taken from the sneak attack, an attack that, by all rights, should've killed him. She gasped and immediately opened her menu and rushed through her items. As quickly as she could, she pulled out a healing crystal and held it up.

"Heal!" she cried out. The crystal disappeared, and to her relief, his injury status healed, and all of his hit points recovered. He groaned as he looked up at her, and smiled.

"Thanks," he said, "Thought I was going to black out there for a second."

She blushed and quickly looked away.

"No…I should…be thanking you," she managed to stammer out, "You…saved me… _twice_."

He continued to smile as he slowly got to his feet.

"And you saved me. We'll call it even."

She smiled at him as she tried to get up, but her legs wouldn't support her weight. Sighing she looked up, and saw Siren standing in front of her, his hand outstretched. Without a second thought, she took it, and the same warm, comforting, amazing feeling she had before came back with a vengeance. With a firm pull, she was on her feet again, and to her disappoint, he let go of her hand.

"That was too close…" she heard him mumble as he began rifling in more of his pouches.

Still blushing, she watched as he pulled out a green vile. Next, he opened his menu, and an ornate, slim dagger materialized. Grabbing it, he pulled it out of its scabbard, and carefully holding each item, he opened the vile, and let a small drop of the sickly green liquid land on the blade. When it was fully absorbed into the metal, he nodded, then slid the dagger back into its scabbard. Attaching it to his right hip, he then pulled his rapier from its scabbard, and repeated the process. As the green vile disappeared, he put his sword away, then started dusting himself off. Lis could only stare. What was that stuff he put on his weapons? And how was he able to equip a dagger at the same time as his sword?

"That should even up the odds next time…" he continued to mumble.

As he started to walk away, she managed to pull herself out of her stupor, and rushed to catch up.

"Hey!" she said as she strolled up to his side, "What did you put on your blades? Was that…poison? And how did you equip your sword _and_ a dagger?"

This time, he didn't stop as he answered.

"I'm able to equip two weapons because I have the dual wielding skill."

"Oh!" Lis said, "I've never heard of it…"

She opened her menu, and quickly scrolled through it.

"Hmmm…" she said as she read through the data, "It's not in the info broker's skill list. Is it unique to you?"

He continued walking as he answered.

"No, not unique, but _extremely_ rare. I only know one other person who has it."

"Really?" Lis asked, intrigued, "Who is it?"

"Another solo-player. Name's Kirito. People call him the 'Black Swordsman'."

Lis gasped, then gave a happy laugh.

"I know him!" she said happily, "He's a good friend of mine! I just made a custom sword for him not too long ago! Now I see why he wanted a second one…"

Siren turned his head to look at her, a small smile on his face.

"Really?" he said, "Small world."

They walked in companionable silence for a few more minutes before Lis spoke up again.

"Siren?"

"Hmm?"

"That stuff you put on your blades? _Was_ it… _poison_?"

She saw his face take on a slightly grim expression before he answered.

"Yeah, it was. I'm a master poison maker."

She gasped, and her eyes widened, but she kept pace with him. After a minute, he continued; she guessed he knew she wanted him to.

"They, the poisons, help me with combat. I'm an assassin class player."

When she turned sharply to look at him, he sighed, and brought up his hand to rub his forehead.

"It's _just_ my fighting style," he explained, "I'm _not_ a player-killer."

He gestured at his cursor, and she sighed in relief when she realized it was green, but her ears perked up when she heard him open his mouth, but he hesitated, and when he said nothing, she looked directly at him. He seemed to want to say something, and he began to slow down, so she matched his pace. She needed to hear this.

"Well…that's not _entirely_ true…I've killed before… _players_ , I mean…"

She brought her hand up to her mouth in shock. There was so much she wanted to say. So much she wanted to _yell_. But only one word came out, so quiet it was barely above a whisper, though in the quiet of the forest, it felt like it could be heard for miles.

" _Why_ …?"

He looked away from her, and she could see his neutral expression return. He then seemed to harden before her, before turning back to face her, locking his eyes with her own.

"I was part of the assault team that took out Laughing Coffin."

The implication Stunned her. She'd heard about the infamous murder guild, of course; there wasn't anyone in Aincrad who _hadn't_. She'd also heard, through the daily newspaper and through Asuna, about the crusade, formed from the most powerful guilds and solo-players, that had annihilated them. Almost a dozen players from the alliance, and nearly all of the members of Laughing Coffin had died in that battle. To think, this guy she'd just met, a guy she was struggling with her feelings about, was part of the assault team that took them out…the morbid question entered her mind: _how many of them had he killed_? She immediately shook her head. There was no way on earth that she'd ever ask him that question. But, she did feel a great sense of relief. He'd never _murdered_ anyone. In fact, when she looked at him now, she only felt warmth for him…he was a hero. Thanks to him, and the fifty other green players who risked their lives by going into that godforsaken dungeon, those psychopaths would never hurt anyone else again.

"Oh! Ok! That's different. You're a hero!"

He stopped, and the look he gave her sent a chill down her spine. It was empty. Emotionless. It froze her to the ground she stood on.

" _No. I'm not_."

With that, he continued through the forest. When she felt she could move again, she quickly followed him, her thoughts racing…

 ***On a side note, I know it may have been difficult to know when the page breaks were in the first three chapters, as the star symbols I used didn't transfer over for some reason. I hope by manually putting in page breaks, I can fix the issue. Anyway, just letting you all know, I've already started chapter five, and hopefully it will only take me a week to update. Til then, happy readings!**


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